Having been invited to give oral evidence earlier in the year, the BHA has also now submitted written evidence to the Commission on Assisted Dying.
In March this year, BHA chief executive Andrew Copson gave oral evidence to the Commission on Assisted Dying, an independent body set up to investigate what system, if any, should exist to allow people to be assisted to die. The Commission is also investigating whether it might be possible to introduce sufficient safeguards within such a system to prevent abuse and ensure that vulnerable people could not be pressured to choose an assisted death.
Today the BHA has submitted written evidence which outlines the Humanist perspective and moral arguments surrounding assisted dying. The submission argued that with proper legal safeguards and a well-structured framework to prevent misuse, assisted dying and voluntary euthanasia are ways for the terminally ill and incurably suffering to receive help ending their lives with dignity. Of central importance are principles of dignity, compassion and autonomy – to help those who cannot help themselves is often the most moral action available and should be legalised. The BHA is campaigning for a change in the law with the intention that instead of devaluing life (as opposition to reform claims), legalising assisted dying will make for a more compassionate society that values real quality of life.
Notes
For further comment or information, contact Andrew Copson at andrew@humanists.uk or on 020 3675 0959.
Read the full submission to the Commission
See the BHA campaigns page on assisted dying.
View the Commission on Assisted Dying‘s website
The British Humanist Association is the national charity representing and supporting the interests of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state.